Jim Roddey
American businessman
James C. Roddey (1933 – March 7, 2024) was an American businessman and politician in Pennsylvania best known for being the first chief executive of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, from 2000 to 2004. He was a Republican and was the chair of the Republican Committee of Allegheny County, from 2005 until 2016.
Early life and career
Roddey was originally from Asheville, North Carolina. He graduated from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas with a degree in speech. He was a former United States Marine Corps captain, and moved to Pittsburgh in 1979. "Roddey grew to become a champion speedster in track and field, a dedicated Marine, a close associate of Ted Turner’s, a business success in his own right, an intrepid racer of sailboats, and a wit, humorist and raconteur without peer in Pittsburgh," according to Pittsburgh Quarterly.
Professional career
Roddey served on the boards of Turner Communication Corp, Rollins Communication Corp, and others. He was an emeritus trustee of the University of Pittsburgh and has received three honorary doctorates from various institutions. At various points, he chaired the boards of the Port Authority of Allegheny County, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, and the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority. In 2010, Politics Magazine named him one of the most influential Republicans in Pennsylvania.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jim Roddey” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.